Behind Blue Eyes
by Kelly8210
Summary: Series of connected one-shots of what N/S was up to during the show's break.


Nate hit the down button and waited for the elevator to arrive at the penthouse. It was New Years Eve, and he and Chuck had finished getting ready over a half hour ago. Penelope was throwing a New Years Eve party, and for whatever reason, the four had decided to attend.

Blair and Serena were downstairs in her suite getting ready. After Serena had been released from the hospital, Blair had basically taken up residency in the Empire, rarely making any appearances in her dorm room in the Village. Serena needed her because besides any physical injuries, Serena was also emotionally deflated. It took numerous shopping trips to Bendels and plenty of movie marathons for Serena to return to some type of semblance of normalcy.

Christmas was something that Serena wanted to get through as quickly and painlessly as possible. There was an unspoken kind of hostility that all of her "siblings" had noticed with her mother and Rufus and she wasn't sure that she completely understood, because according to her mother, she had not told Rufus the truth about what had happened over the summer. Serena could only assume that it was Maureen who had told, and she kept that theory to herself. Thinking of Maureen only made Serena think of Tripp and what a pain full and embarrassing train wreck that had been. She spent the majority of her time at home with Eric, who she was pretty sure needed her almost as much as she needed him. They played board games and spent a lot of time just talking, because they really hadn't had the chance to do very much of that recently.

A few days after Christmas, Chuck and Blair had returned from France and Serena started to feel much less lonely.

On the 30th, Nate returned from Connecticut, but Serena hadn't seen him in the day that he had been home before New Years Eve. She hadn't seen much of him, period, since the hospital. When she woke up the next morning, he was gone, and Eric was sitting in the chair that had been previously occupied by Nate. She hadn't even gotten much of a chance to hang out with Nate before the holidays, with the strange awkwardness that was floating over the two of them. She wrote his absence off as him studying and taking his semester finals, but that didn't account for the rest of the time. She had run into him a few times around the hotel and something didn't feel quite right. There was just too much that had been unsaid. She figured that they were alight, but they hadn't made it much past sweet smiles and sideways glances.

When Nate stepped out of the elevator onto Serena's floor, he realized that tonight would be the first time that he would be saying more to Serena other than the polite 'hello'. He took a minute, adjusting the collar of his silver button down underneath his blazer, before knocking on the door of her sixteenth floor suite. He wondered why Chuck hadn't come along or why they didn't just call the girls to find out if they would be ready soon. He felt his heart beat a bit harder in his chest, and noticed that he hadn't heard anyone answer the door. He took in a long breath before reaching for the handle and letting himself inside.

The girls were sitting in Serena's bedroom when Nate walked in. Blair was standing beside Serena's closet, a short and shiny silver dress in one hand, and an almost empty glass of champagne in the other. Serena was sitting on a vanity chair, her body turned so that she was facing Blair with her back to the door. It looked as if she hadn't touched her champagne, and she was still wearing her silk, navy blue robe. Blair had an expression on her face that was a mixture of annoyance and compassion. She was dressed in a short, deep red cocktail dress, with her hair done in soft curls. She took another sip out of her glass before noticing Nate's presence, and shouting his name across the room with a smile across her face.

Serena immediately sucked in a quick breath and her light eyes widened upon hearing his name. She turned around slowly to see Blair crossing the room and throwing her arms around Nate, welcoming him home.

"Chuck, um, sent me down here to see how much longer." He explained to Blair, but his eyes drifted towards Serena. He wondered why she wasn't dressed, or why she wasn't speaking, or even drinking. This was Serena, and though being fully dressed was never Serena's first priority, she was always able to control a conversation, and she was always up for a drink.

Blair gave Nate a half roll of the eyes and replied, "Well, we could have been up there 15 minutes ago if Serena would get it into gear over here." She huffed, eyeballing Serena.

"I told you, B, I think that I am just going to head over to the penthouse and spend New Years with my family" Serena said, her voice soft and quiet.

"What?!" Nate immediately blurted.

"Oh please, S," Blair's eyes rolled all the way around this time, "You couldn't wait to get out of that apartment after Christmas. And besides," She gave another huff, "You haven't spent New Years either sober or at home in years."

Blair's disapproval rang through her ears, and she could feel Nate's green eyes holding their gaze on her, burning through her. She gave a long sigh, and breathed an, 'I know', without looking at either of them.

Blair threw her arms down to her sides, and grabbed her purse off of Serena's bed before adding, "I better see you in Chuck's suite, dressed and ready, in 20 minutes." She quickly crossed the room, and left through the door, leaving Nate awkwardly standing in the doorway to Serena's room. Serena moved her hands from her lap and onto her temporal lobes, gently massaging them.

"So," he hadn't realized until then that his throat was suddenly dry and he cleared his throat before he continue speaking, "You comin'? It's not like you to miss a party." She looked at him, her blue eyes now burning into him. She didn't respond, so he just unnecessarily continued, "I mean, especially a party with your best friends, on one of the biggest party nights of the year.." He trailed off, and gave a low chuckle after seeing her mouth finally widen into a smile.

She stood up and threw nearly the entire glass of champagne down her throat, and smiled at him even wider. Taking this as an invitation, he crossed the room and picked up the silver dress that Blair had lightly discarded off of the bed. He eyed it with a small smile, because he actually thought that it was an okay dress, and he knew that Serena would look seriously sexy in it. She walked over to him and took the dress from the hands that he was holding it in delicately. "Yeah, let me just put this on, and, like" she stopped and gave a low, airy laugh, "brush my hair or something."

"Good.. because, I mean, I don't know if I can stand the firing squad of Nelly Yuki, and everyone on my own." He laughed, feeling a bit more confident and comfortable.

Serena laughed, because it was true. She couldn't imagine attending a party with the people that she was supposed to be so close to alone with just Blair and Chuck, who she knew would leave the party to be alone after only a short appearance.

She took the dress from him, and her eyes darted from the dress, to her robe, and then to Nate. She probably would just change with him in the room under normal circumstances. She did have a bra and panties on underneath the robe, and really, Nate had seen basically all of her before. Right now was a bit different though, and she wasn't sure if stripping from her robe would be considered appropriate anymore. Or at least not a month after sleeping with his cousin.

Finally cuing in on her thoughts, Nate shook his head quickly, eyes closed, before blurting, "Right! Sorry, I'll just wait outside.. Or, um, just go back upstairs and wait with Chuck and Blair!"

He started to walk out the door, before Serena's quiet voice stopped him. "No, stay." She walked over, grabbed her empty champagne glass and handed it to him. "I'm sure they want to be alone. Booze is in the kitchen." She gave a small smile, and he accepted the glass, and turned for the hallway.

----

When Serena finally emerged into the living room Nate was sitting on the couch, with a half empty champagne glass on the table. Nate looked up and took her in. Her dress hit mid thigh, and his eyes were immediately drawn to her impossibly long legs. He intended to say something.. maybe how incredible she looked, or maybe to tell her that it was time to leave, but he realized that his lungs couldn't even force the air to his throat. He settled for just staring at her in awe with a goofy, half-smile on his face.

"What are you doing?" She asked him, raising a single eyebrow.

Nate was taken back. "I.. Uh, that dress. It, um, looks good." He stumbled and gave a nervous laugh, "Matches my shirt." He tried to smile, but couldn't help feeling unsure if she actually wanted to hear him saying things like that to her. He always had complimented her when they were younger. Her hair, her clothes, her smile. He remembered telling her how beautiful she was as she was sitting half naked on his lap on a bar stool. So much had changed, but then again, nothing had changed about the way that his heart thumped in his chest when he looked at her.

She giggled and his nervous smile grew genuine when it brightened as he blew out a breath, flashing a row of white teeth. "Awe, thanks, Natie." She said between giggles until her face grew more serious." But I meant, what are you doing with that champagne?"

Nate immediately furrowed his eyebrows at her question, and with a completely confused expression on his face.

Serena let out and airy laugh as she crossed the living room and headed into the kitchen. Nate quickly downed the remnants of his champagne before she emerged, cradling a large bottle of Ketel One and two shot glasses.

"Ohh," Nate let out a breath, "very old school of you." He was grinning hard as she handed him a shot glass and settled herself down on the floor below Nate.

Ketel One had been the first liquor that either of them had gotten drunk off of. It had been a permanent fixture at the parties held in Chuck's suite back during their seventh and eighth grade parties, before they were able to just walk into any club. When Serena thinks back to those parties, she thinks of herself perched on the sofa, the alcohol taking over her body, nestling herself closer to Nate's chest (Blair either left early from Chuck's parties, or didn't bother showing up at all. 'They were full of skanky Chapin and Spence whores, and drunk, sloppy lacross players.') The truth was, Ketel One had been Serena's vodka of choice since those days.

She smiled as she poured the vodka into her shot glass that was sitting on the coffee table in front of her. She looked up at Nate and he slipped down off of the couch, his dress pants pressed against her bare legs, as he held out his glass for her to pour the liquid into his glass.

He gave her a knowing smile as he clicked his glass against hers and downed the clear liquid. He finished his first, and after swallowing hers, she looked up and breathed out a laugh. She wasn't sure what was funny, but there was something naturally relaxing about sitting with Nate on the floor, and drinking. The years of using different liquids to chase down the liquor were far behind them, and Serena immediately reached for the bottle to pour them another.

One of Nate's hands reached out to touch the bottle, preventing her from pouring.

"Another one? What's this about, S." The truth was, Serena could probably handle about five of these shots in succession without being affected, but it had been awhile since he had seen Serena drink heavily, and there was a whole party full of drinking ahead of them.

"Seriously?" She raised her eyebrows, maneuvering the bottle so that she was able to pour.

He raised his back in return, a smirk playing on his face, because this was Serena, and she was going to do whatever she wanted anyway, so his best option was to just follow her. He always had, anyway, whether it was a new club that Carter Baizen was sneaking them into, the wine cellar of the van der Bilt's Hamptons house, or an empty bar at a wedding.

She nudged his shoulder, giving him a bump, causing him to chuckle. He picked up his glass, and looked down at her. She was staring back up at him, and he smiled into her blue eyes. He clicked his glass with hers again, something unexplainable, but unknowingly agreed upon being cheers to.

-----

Sometime, maybe a half hour later, Serena wasn't sure because time wasn't really on her priority list right then. She was much too busy pouring shots for her and Nate. They were laughing and reminiscing together when the door swung opened to reveal an anxious, (or maybe just plain furious) looking Blair, and a calm and relaxed Chuck.

Blair's eyes were wide, and her mouth flew opened before she announced, "You two MUST be kidding."

Chuck, pin striped, three-piece tuxedo on, complete with a paisley red bow tie, stood behind her. A single eyebrow raised at Nathaniel, and his classic smirk on his face.

"It's almost ten o'clock.. We need to get going now." Blair was exasperated, and she really couldn't believe that Nate and Serena were just casually drinking together while she and Chuck had been waiting.

Well, maybe not sitting around waiting and doing nothing, but that was not the point.

"Sorry." Serena cringed, letting her teeth lightly fall onto her bottom lip. It was never good to upset Blair, especially by being late to a social function.

Not that Penelope's party would be the party of the year.

"Yeah, we thought that you'd come down when you were ready." Nate offered, knowing how lame the excuse sounded the second that it left his lips.

"Listen," Chucked drawled slowly, "No one wants to skip out on this party more than me to be quite frank with you, so either we leave right now, or we go to the bar downstairs for dinner and drinks and call it a night when the ball drops."

The three all looked at Blair expectantly, just hoping to her even just a small sigh in agreement, because, really, no one wanted to go to a party that Penelope was throwing.

"We RSVP'd, now get up, you two, and let's go." She said firmly.

Nate and Serena instantly looked at Chuck, hoping for him to debate, and when he didn't, they slowly rose to their feet.

Blair and Chuck turned for the door. Serena, realizing that she had been not only drinking on an empty stomach, but she also had been sitting down for all of their shots, staggered slightly. Nate, despite feeling similar effects, instinctively reached out to steady her. "Really is just like old times, huh?" She asked him.

Nate gave a soft smile in return. Thinking that if this really was like old times, they would have shared a joint before leaving for the party. He didn't mind though, and slid his hand onto her lower back as he followed her through the door.

---

As expected, this party was lame. Serena wasn't sure if it was the way that the girls still stood in a closed circle, head bands matching their dresses and each other, or the way that Nelly Yuki was prancing around, sloshing her drink all over the floor in an attempt to track down the former captain of the St. Judes swim team, but something was screaming inside of her, telling her that she shouldn't be there.

Chuck and Blair were sitting alone, scotch and champagne in their hands, respectively. After making the rounds to everyone, they had told Serena that they planned to head back to the suite early. Serena had assumed that they would at least stay until the ball dropped, but, it looked like they were as excited about the party as she was.

Penelope and Hazel came bouncing over, toting champagne glasses, to where Serena was sitting alone, dirty martini in hand.

"Why all alone, S, you're practically famous now. I can't believe that you didn't bring a date." Hazel said, a bit too loud, eyes more wide than usual. Serena gave a small smile and let one of the eyes travel across the room as a certain blonde boy came into her periphal vision. Neither girl noticed, and Hazel continued on to Penelope, "How cool would it have been if Patrick Roberts showed up tonight?"

Serena immediately shook her head, "Oh, no, we were never really-"

"Or Carter Baizen." Penelope interjected, one eyebrow raised.

"Oh, he is so cute. I miss Gossip Girl's 'Where is Carter' blog." Nelly Yuki somehow had appeared.

Penelope rolled her eyes at her friend, who was clearly not learning much more at Yale than she had at Constance. "I never really have time to read Gossip Girl anymore. Her blasts are seriously lame now that she can't have spies everywhere." Serena knew that Penelope was most certainly still reading Gossip Girl, and not being the little social butterfly that she was acting to be at Princeton. The truth was, Gossip Girl had nothing to report on Penelope since before graduation.

Blair walked up to Serena and the other girls before they could start an hour long conversation about gossip girl. "S, I'm heading out, you'll be okay?" Blair asked, an apologetic smile on her face.

Serena nodded and gave Blair a kiss on the cheek before the other girls followed Blair, begging her not to leave so early. She shook her head and backed up to return to her spot on the couch. She took a hefty sip of her martini before a curly brunette slid down beside of her.

"van der Woodsen." The boy said simply.

A large smile came to her face as she took his lead, "Charlie Dern." She said it simply and finished her martini with a final gulp before looking back up. Charlie had been one of Nate's lacrosse friends, and an ever present figure at the parties she had attended growing up.

"You're looking not so happy here tonight. What happened to my favorite party girl?" He asked her frowning.

"She's bored." Serena answered simply, a half smirk playing one her lips.

"Well, it's interesting that you say that, because I'm here on a mission to cure that boredom." Serena's mouth gaped, and she narrowed her eyes. Charlie had always been her favorite of Nate's friends. Besides being a bit handsy, and constantly checking her out, he always made sure that she had gotten to bed safely when Nate was with Blair, and Chuck was occupied otherwise, but right now she was questioning his tone.

She stood to excuse herself (she was ready to go in search of martini number four anyway), but he stopped her before she could leave. "Seriously, van der Woodsen, I have something for you." He said, all but begging her to listen to him.

Whatever he had, Serena was fairly certain that she did not want it, but she didn't retreat to the bar. Instead, she watched him as he reached for her hand and dropped a freshly rolled white joint in it, and then used his hand to close hers over top of it.

"Well, Charlie, if you wanted to smoke up, why didn't you just ask?" She gave him a soft laugh.

"Because this isn't from me." He replied rolling his eyes. "You're needed in a limo that's downstairs waiting outside." He explained.

Now she was even more confused. She considered just walking over to the bar, but something was intriguing about this situation, and it did give her an excuse to leave the party. She retrieved her coat from a member of Penelope's staff and hit the button for the elevator.

-----------

As promised, a stately black limo was waiting right out front of Penelope's building.

Serena tentatively walked over to the car, not exactly sure what to expect. When she opened the door, Nate was lounging on the cushioned seat with a glass of champagne in his hand. His blazer was off, and Serena was trying to figure out if he had removed his shoes also when he finally spoke causing her eyes to drift to his face. "Geez, van der Woodsen, took you long enough." He was smiling at her through hooded eyes. She took in his perfect face, and hair swept in that new and mature way that he'd been combing it, and felt a warmness rise in her chest. He motioned towards the seat across from him with his free hand.

She sat down and noticed that he had put on the New Years Eve countdown on the small television.

"So." She said simply, and extended her hand out to reveal the joint that she had received from Charlie.

Nate gave a throaty laugh in return while he reached into his pocket to reveal a silver lighter. He passed it across the car. "You first."

Serena laughed and shook her head. "You've got to be kidding me." It seemed as though Nate had really taken her 'old times' talk to heart.

She lit it and took a drag. When she finally breathed out and passed him the lighter she looked at him seriously, "Did you really think that driving home was a good idea? Traffic is insane. Its going to take us hours to get home."

He looked at the digital clock. It was 11:15, and though Penelope's penthouse wasn't very far from the Empire, but it probably would take them until passed midnight. He grabbed the small remote and turned up the television volume a few notches. He waved the lighter and brandished the champagne bottle. "Well that's fine, I brought goodies." He gave a smirk, and a light wink in her direction.

-------

They took turns shouting the numbers as they counted down to 2010.

"Three." Nate smirked.

"Two" Serena yelled, eyes wide and dancing.

"One!"

Serena closed the space between them, throwing her long arms around Nate's neck. He hears her give a small gasp close to his ear. " Happy New Year, Natie!" When she pulled away, they looked at each other for a moment, their blue eyes stuck on each other.

God, he wanted to kiss her. She was alone right here with him, passed tipsy, and basically on his lap with her arms already wrapped around him. His mind was a bit fuzzy, in part from the alcohol, and the other part from being with her. He was reminded of the night that he had taken her to Brandy Library. They had such a great day together, and he had finally told her how he had felt about her. And then, their perfect day had been shattered with the entrance of Tripp.

He had hated what she was doing with Tripp, and the way he had felt that his cousin was manipulating her. He had tried to be mad at her, he really had, she had all but broken his heart. He just couldn't stay angry at her though, he never had been able to. He just realized that maybe he needed to pull away, to see her less.

After he had spent the night at the hospital, he wasn't sure what to do, or where to take things. A part of him wanted to keep trying. With her this close to him, and looking the way she was (that silver dress really did look so good on her), and her glassy blue eyes fixed on his, he was positive that he had her. There was just another part of him that screamed 'not yet'. He wanted this, her, so badly, but he just couldn't. He wanted her to be ready, and he just didn't think that she could possibly be ready now. He wants everything with her, and for that to work, that has to take things slow. He has to show her that he was not like Dan, or Aaron, or Gabriel, or Carter, or Tripp. He isn't going to leave her, or judge her. He doesn't want to trick her, or use her. He has felt the same way about her for years, and through everything, his feelings haven't changed. He'd bought her a rose on valentines day when he was 11, and held her hair back when she was getting sick after a night with Georgina when she was 14, he'd lost his virginity to her, watched her date boy after boy towards the end of high school, leave him on Thanksgiving night for his older cousin, and somehow his feelings for her remained the same.

He finally broke her gaze and leaned in to press a quick, but tender kiss to her cheek. She gave him a big smile, and he reached out to tap his glass on hers, "Happy 2010, S." He said, before downing his champagne.

Serena smiled and followed suit. He turned to look at her, and she held his gaze for a few seconds before grabbing his glass and jumping up to refill their glasses.

Nate sighed and looked out the window to see the crowds of people gathering along the city streets. There were drunken groups, pretty girl dressed in short dresses with cell phones pressed to their ears, and couples kissing on the sidewalk.

He thought about how easy this could have been. He would just reach for her, and she would fall into his lap, probably spilling champagne, he would kiss her, and she would kiss him back. They would go up to her suite in The Empire and he would take off her pretty silver dress, and finally, he would have her.

But he couldn't do it. This wasn't going to be like the last time, three years ago. When he finally kissed her, she was going to stay. This was going to be real, and they were going to do this right. So when she turned around with more champagne, and a soft smiled on her face, he resisted. He accepted the glass, and turned his attention to the television, where people were celebrating on the very streets that they were currently driving though.

---

Serena hit the button for 16 when the entered the elevator. It was 1:00 in the morning, and her body was tired. Nate followed her in through the doors, and after staring at the wall of numbers and buttons through hooded eye lashes, he finally hit the button for 18, the penthouse.

They had finished the bottle of champagne and smoked one last joint before the limo had finally delivered them home. They were drunk, and when they had realized this before getting out of the limo and walking onto the street, Nate had proclaimed, "Some things really never do change. You always succeed in getting me drunk, Serena."

It was true, and although they were both feeling more than a solid buzz, they had managed to keep their hands off of each other for the most part (sans Nate holding out his hand when Serena exited the limo, and her locking their fingers as he helped her out).

When the elevator finally reached her floor and the doors opened, Serena turned to Nate and offered on last hug before she left (it was New Years, she figured a mass amount of hugs was allowed). When she wrapped her arms around him, he hugged her back. She noticed that the doors were about to close, so she attempted to pull away.

Nate didn't let her.

"Serena, it's New Years." Nate said simply and she scrunched her eyebrows a bit slowly and lazily at him. "Your three best friends will be upstairs, you should be too." He shrugged, and hit the button to close the doors.

Serena didn't disagree, she silently followed him when the doors to the penthouse opened. She was cautious walking in, and as Nate neared his bedroom, and turned towards her, 10 feet behind him, and coaxed her to "Pick it up, van der Woodsen".

Once inside, he silently tossed a St. Jude's soccer t shirt and a pair of flannel pants at her, before heading into the bathroom.

---

When he returned from the bathroom a few minutes later, Serena was laying under the covers on the far right side of his bed.

He climbed in, and joined her under the covers. She was laying on her side, one palm under her head, facing inward, and he noted that her eyes were closed, but he could tell that she was still awake. He slid in a bit farther and reached across the length of the large bed to touch the arm that was not propped under her head.

"Well, we haven't shared a bed in awhile, but you sleep a bit farther away than I remember." At his touch, she fluttered her eyes opened. It was true, they had shared a bed (usually his) countless times during their childhood and adolescent life. Usually he'd have an arm around her, and their legs would be tangled underneath the covers. Sleeping so far away from Nate, or anyone who's bed she was in, to be honest, was a bit weird, and definitely cold. Normally, she'd just plop herself in the middle like it was her own bed, but she was hesitant. It was nice of Nate to be so nice to her (he always had been), but what should she really expect from him? Better question, what did he expect from her?

She let him pull her with him towards the middle of the bed, and decided that she needed to say something. Her hand was back underneath her head, and his arm had come to drape around her body, as his other hand matched hers, propping his head up.

"Nate.." She began, because she really didn't know what she wanted to say, or how she was going to say it.

His blue eyes were watching her carefully, and he could tell that despite being a bit drunk, there was something bothering her. Her relaxed inhibitions, mixed with her hesitation had been a clear indicator of that. So, he decided he would just wait.

"I'm just.." She was trailing off again, because there was no way to express how she was feeling. Her eyes were full of regret and glazed from alcohol and emotions. "I'm so sorry." she gulped.

It could have come out better, but she didn't know what else to say. She could feel her eyes starting to fill, and she closed them before anything threatened to spill.

Nate was shaking his head. "Don't.." And to Serena, there was no reason as to why she shouldn't be apologizing, so she shook her head in return. Nate was staring at her, noting that she was really ready to break down, and that was the last thing that he wanted. They had such a good night together, and he didn't want it ruined. He knew that she was sorry, and having her close again was making everything alright. "It's okay, Serena." It came out as a whisper and then he took a breath before offering, "Happy New Year." With a tired smile.

She shook her head even harder, "How can it be okay, Nate? " Her voice was breaking, even in her whisper. "I fibbed to you, you warned me and I didn't listen. You said the perfect things, and I left you.." She closed her eyes, and took a breath before adding, "Twice." She took a few more breaths in the next minute of silence to keep any tears from falling.

"It's going to be alright, S." Nate finally replied.

She was shaking her head again, and his grip on her hips tightened. "He was married, Nate. He's a congressman. He used to baby-sit us, and I slept with him. He's your cousin." Nate winced, but these were all things that he knew, that he had a month to consider everything. Not that he needed that long. "I just.. I messed up. And I don't even know if an apology covers what did. I just can't lose you. We've been friends for too long.. If I didn't have you.." She trailed off, thinking about their fight in the fall when he had chosen his family over Carter (her), and she had chosen Carter over his family (him), and how it felt to barely be on speaking terms with him (if you can call "at least I'm a guest of the party and not working the door" speaking terms). Nate's friendship (Nate) means so much to her, and she hated herself for doing anything to jeopardize it again.

She had her eyes closed, and was absently shaking her head. Nate pulled her into him as he leaned back, her head landing into his chest and one of her arms wrapping around him. "Seriously, Serena." He looked down at her. Her blond her was a mess, and her cheeks were flushed. Some of hour light eye makeup was smudged, and her eyes were still wet. "We're going to be alright." He let it hang in the air, before asking, "Okay?".

She saw the truth in his eyes, and she trusted that he was forgiving her. She nodded before agreeing, "Alright, Nate." She layed her head back down right below his neck, and tightened her grip around him as she closed her eyes. Nate smiled, and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, into her hair, and whispered (for what seemed like the 100th time that night), "Happy New Year, Serena."

But this last time, she really heard what he was saying. It was a new year. A new day. A new time.

Their time.

A/N: This was my first story that I'm actually deciding to post, so reciew would be kind of nice. Thanks for reading!


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